Once the last person set down their chopsticks, I spoke up. "Everyone's finished, right?"
They all confirmed they were done.
I flagged down a waiter and asked for a large bowl, then placed it in front of Bruno.
I stood, went around the table, and scraped everyone's leftovers into that bowl. Half-eaten rice, gnawed bones, wilted greens, sauce-smeared scraps. The bowl filled up fast.
Bruno stared at me, confused.
I smiled at him. "Eat up. You hate wasting food, don't you? So go ahead and finish what your colleagues left behind."
The temperature in the private dining room dropped about twenty degrees.
Bruno's expression darkened. "Honey, I'm already full."
"You're not leaving this room until that bowl is empty."
Ellie shot to her feet. "Mrs. Matthews, you've spent three years as a stay-at-home wife, buying whatever you want without ever checking the price tag. All of that was thanks to Mr. Matthews."
"And now you're humiliating him over something this petty? You really don't know your place!"
I looked at her flushed little face and laughed.
"Go on, sweetheart. Eat." I turned back to Bruno. "You had no problem eating Ellie's leftovers, but everyone else's are suddenly beneath you? That's a pretty interesting double standard."
Bruno looked at me, then at the heaping bowl of scraps.
He hesitated. Then he picked up his chopsticks and started shoveling food into his mouth.
Ellie shrieked. "Mr. Matthews, stop! You're going to destroy your stomach!"
"Why are you listening to her? She's a woman who doesn't earn a single cent. What right does she have to order you around?"
She snatched the chopsticks right out of Bruno's hand. "Stop eating. If she won't care about you, I will!"
"You love caring about other women's husbands that much?" I said. "Then eat it for him."
"I barely eat anything, I couldn't possibly finish that. You're just trying to make things difficult for me."
"Then shut your mouth."
I grabbed a fresh pair of chopsticks and handed them to Bruno. "Eat. You love leftovers so much, don't you?"
Bruno took them and kept forcing food down. He could barely swallow. His throat worked uselessly, and he gagged over and over.
Finally, he couldn't take it anymore. He doubled over and threw up.
Ellie burst into tears, rubbing his back with one hand while pointing at me with the other.
"You don't deserve to be Mr. Matthews's wife! You're no help to him whatsoever. All you do is throw tantrums and drag him down!"
"I don't deserve him? And you do? Ready to take my place already?"
"Mr. Matthews and I have a perfectly professional working relationship. Don't you dare slander me!"
"Prove it. Resign."
"Why should I resign? I'm doing perfectly fine at my job."
"You're fired."
Ellie froze. Then her eyes welled up, her lip trembled, and she drew out Bruno's name in a long, pitiful whimper.
"Mr. Matthews..."
Bruno, who had never once raised his voice at me in our entire marriage, slammed his palm on the table and stood. "Judith, you have no authority to fire my employees!"
I walked straight up to Ellie and slapped her across the face. Twice.
"Tramp."
"You're right. I don't hold a position in the company, so I can't fire her." I held his gaze. "But as your wife, I have every right to slap her."
Bruno immediately pulled the sobbing Ellie into his arms. "Judith, you've gone too far!"
Perhaps earlier, when I'd caught him eating Ellie's leftovers, some small part of him still felt guilty toward me.
Now that guilt was gone.
"I've been too lenient with you. That's why you think you can do whatever you want."
"As punishment, I'm freezing every single one of your cards."
Ellie had been crying just a moment ago. But the second she heard that all my cards were being cut off, the corners of her mouth curled upward, impossible to hide.
"Oh, that seems a bit harsh, Mr. Matthews. Tonight was supposed to be your wife's treat. If you freeze all her cards, how is she going to pay the bill?"
